From qualitative data to insights

The keys to comprehensive user research:

User research, or user experience (UX) research, is a vital part of the UX design process. Usually the starting point of a project, user research helps designers analyse users needs and then come up with the right product ideas.

By gathering qualitative data from users, product designers can make out what is available in the market, what the users want and how to fill the gap. This is the foundation of any successful product development.

Why is user research so important?

Reducing risk is ultimately what user research aims to do; but other than that, there are other reasons why user research is so vital for a project.

Better product design.

Conducting user research helps you to make a better design of the product. It helps you to understand the exact requirement of the users and come up with products that meet those requirements. User research is crucial from both a designer and a business perspective.

Saving time and money.

If a product is developed without conducting proper user research, the end product may not meet all the requirements of the user and probably requires a lot of rectification and modification. The further you are in the product creation process, the more costly it is to identify design flaws and functional issues. And this is in terms of both money and time.

How to convert qualitative data into meaningful insights?

Tag notes. The first step in analysing user data is to start tagging the data collected. You can tag the user questions, comments, and suggestions, which can be later used for designing the product. For example, if your end goal is for the user to purchase a product, then you can use ‘purchase’ as a tag and collect all queries and suggestions surrounding ‘#purchase’.

Analyse the data. Once the data is collected, you should move to the analysis stage. The analysis stage is where you find out whether the product is meeting all the user demand. Is there any other demand which the product can meet? Are you able to come up with some new concept which your competitor is not able to address? These are some of the things to be figured out in the analysis stage.

Share the insight. Insights are the result of the analysis. It should mention what you have learnt through the research and any supporting notes or data that back the investigation. This analysis forms the basis for product development.

Ultimately, user research means the difference between designing a product based on guesswork and creating a product that solves a real, actual user problem. User research is all about understanding users’ needs. It is about targeting the right users at the right time.

If this sounds too overwhelming for your product managers, then consider using the Epiphany platform – a product discovery tool that helps you turn mountains of user research data into real actionable insights.